Police restrained visitors outside the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington on Wednesday after authorities reported that at least two people were shot at the museum.

Article Tools Sponsored ByBy DAVID STOUTPublished: June 10, 2009

WASHINGTON — An elderly man walked into the Holocaust Museum, one of the capital’s most-visited sites, shortly after 1 p.m. Wednesday and opened fire with a shoulder weapon or pistol, wounding a security guard before being shot himself, officials said.Skip to next paragraphThe New York Times

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Police investigating the shooting.

The gunman was identified by several news agencies as James W. von Brunn, a man in his late 80s. According to a Web site maintained by Mr. von Brunn, he embraces a far-reaching conspiracy theory involving Jews, blacks and other minority groups. Early reports indicated that he lives in eastern Maryland.

However, the Washington police chief, Cathy Lanier, said the identity of the gunman had not been confirmed.

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty of Washington said at an afternoon news conference that the gunman was in critical condition, and the security guard, whom he declined to identify, was in grave condition.

Law enforcement officials said they have long been familiar with Mr. Von Brunn, who has claimed variously to be a member of Mensa, the high-I.Q. fraternity; to have been a P.T. boat captain in World War II and to have been victimized by a court system run by Jews and black people.

A Washington television station reported that one wounded man was seen being wheeled into the emergency room of George Washington University Hospital, not far away, and was handcuffed to a gurney. The wounded guard was taken to the same hospital.

“One or more” security guards returned fire moments after the gunman began shooting, Sgt. David Schlosser of the United States Park Police said in a sidewalk news conference shortly before 2 p.m. Sergeant Schlosser said he understood that only the gunman and one security guard were wounded.

Preliminary reports indicated that the gunman was carrying either a rifle or shotgun and possibly a pistol, and that he fired five or six shots before being wounded. There were no clues to his motive or identity.

Opened in 1993, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is situated near the National Mall and the Potomac River. Since its dedication, it has had early 30 million visitors, including more than 8 million school children and 85 heads of state, the museum says on its Web site.

Like all public buildings in the capital, the museum has heavy security, with visitors required to pass through metal detectors. But someone determined to enter a building with a firearm can sometimes do so. In July 1998, a crazed gunman killed two police officers and wounded a tourist in the Capitol.

I am going to get shit for this, but I have some degree of respect for actual Neo-Nazis. They actually believe someting. Thats more than most americans can say.

I don't know if I would go as far as to say this.

Depends which you think is worse: ignorance or unjustified hate

The man was stupid and insane, there's no disputing that, but I do understand what ValhallanKnight means. All convictions aside, you have to give kudos to anyone who's willing to take a position and act out on it, as opposed to just sitting around watching crappy "reality" shows or writing some conceited blog about unimportant bullshit on twitter

But sitting around watching reality shows and being useless doesn't hurt anybody. I have no respect for Nazis nor Neo-Nazis BECAUSE of the position they take and how they act on it. Useless idiots who don't do anything also do not pose a threat like those fuckers do.

The point is if more people had put down the guitar hero and taken the time to look into what the extreme right was up to in this country then perhaps maybe this incident may have been avoided. Being a slacker may not hurt but being vigilant definitely helps.

But that's it they're not slackers, they're highly motivated, people need to be motivated too in order to stop them, we can't just sit back and say "Hey I'm not hurting anybody" that's how we ended up with neocons in congress giving us the patriot act.

Yeah, I agree with MT. If you see a problem in the world, affecting you, stop bending over and taking it up the ass and try and fight back. You bet your ass if a group started infringing on my "rights" (things I believe I deserve) I would protest, loudly.

As a great man once said...

You cannot hide behind those empty claimsYour racist pride is nothing but a gameAnd you will lose for right is on the sideOf those who choose to fight for humankind

Ok, what I am saying is that I would rather someone be a fucking slacking useless cunt than a Neo-Nazi that pulls the bullshit the dude the story above did. Of course people should stand up for what they believe in, but if they are a Neo-Nazi I will not respect them no matter how strongly they believe.

James W. von Brunn was quite the idiot. Why do people debate whether or not the Holocaust happened? I can't stand it when people deny the Holocaust, since it did factually happen. White supremacists do not deserve my respect because they have misguided opinions on the human race and are much too willing to shove it down people's throats. What pathetic douchebags. The hatred of such large groups of people simply because of their skin color is irrational. The neo-Nazis try portray themselves as the superior race of men, but all they are are insignificant hypocrites void of most rational thought.